Create the Loader and Connect It to Your App

Now that you have metadata and a plugin base class, let's connect them to a loader and use it in your app.

Create the loader

Add ShadowExamplePluginLoader.cs to the SDK:

ShadowExamplePluginLoader.cs

csharp

using ShadowExample.Core.Plugins;
using ShadowPluginLoader.Attributes;
using ShadowPluginLoader.WinUI;

namespace ShadowExample.Core;

[CheckAutowired]
public partial class ShadowExamplePluginLoader
    : AbstractPluginLoader<ExampleMetaData, PluginBase>
{
}

The two type arguments are your metadata and plugin base class. [CheckAutowired] generates the constructor, so you don't need any code in the class yet. Keep the partial keyword.

Initialize it in the app

Reference the same SDK from your app, then add this initialization to the constructor in App.xaml.cs. Keep your existing OnLaunched and window creation code.

App.xaml.cs

csharp

using CustomExtensions.WinUI;
using DryIoc;
using Microsoft.UI.Xaml;
using ShadowExample.Core;
using ShadowExample.Core.Plugins;
using ShadowObservableConfig.Json;
using ShadowObservableConfig.Yaml;
using ShadowPluginLoader.WinUI;
using ShadowPluginLoader.WinUI.Config;
using ShadowPluginLoader.WinUI.Services;
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using Windows.Storage;

namespace ShadowExample;

public partial class App : Application
{
    public App()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        ApplicationExtensionHost.Initialize(this);
        ShadowObservableConfig.GlobalSetting.Init(
            ApplicationData.Current.LocalFolder.Path,
            [new JsonConfigLoader(), new YamlConfigLoader()]);

        DiFactory.Init<PluginBase, ExampleMetaData>();

        var events = (PluginEventService)DiFactory.Services.Resolve<IPluginEventService>();
        DiFactory.Services.RegisterInstance<PluginEventService>(events);

        var plans = DiFactory.Services.Resolve<InnerSdkConfig>();
        plans.PlanRemove ??= new ObservableCollection<PlanRemoveData>();
        plans.PlanUpgrade ??= new ObservableCollection<PlanUpgradeData>();

        DiFactory.RegisterPluginLoader<ShadowExamplePluginLoader>();
    }
}

This prepares XAML loading for plugins, sets up JSON/YAML configuration, initializes dependency injection, and registers your loader.

The events registration lets the app and plugins share one event service. The two plans assignments prepare empty upgrade and removal lists for the first launch. Follow the order shown above.

The type argument order is easy to mix up: the loader takes <ExampleMetaData, PluginBase>, while DiFactory.Init takes <PluginBase, ExampleMetaData>.

Next: load a plugin

In your window, call DiFactory.Services.Resolve<ShadowExamplePluginLoader>() to get the loader. Await CheckUpgradeAndRemoveAsync() before loading plugins.

Loading uses WinUI resources, so call it on the window's UI thread. See Install, Update, and Remove for a complete example. To add your own work before or after loading, see Custom Loading Logic.

Create the Loader and Connect It to Your App ​